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First Impressions: Pokémon: Magikarp Jump!

When I first saw that there was going to be a mobile game based on the most “pathetic” Pokémon there is, I couldn’t help but laugh! Poor Magikarp… I always liked it even though it really doesn’t do much but flop around! Since the game is free, I didn’t hesitate to check it out!

The game begins with Mayor Karp telling me all about how Magikarp is a great jumper despite its useless appearance, so my goal is to raise Magikarp to win in eight different jumping leagues!

I grabbed a fishing rod and fished up this beauty:

You level up your Magikarp by earning JP, or Jumping Power. You get this by completing simple training exercises and eating food in your pond.

After doing some training and getting my Magikarp leveled up a little, I competed in my first battle and won!

I then realized that I could nickname my Magikarp… so I named him Floppy! 🙂

I had Floppy compete in another Battle, and my trainer ranking increased to Rank 2! I figured this was enough for one day, so I went ahead and ended my game.

Conclusion:
Here’s the funny thing about this game: there really is not much to it. Everything is random! You don’t actually DO anything during the training exercises; the amount of JP awarded is random. You don’t DO anything during the Battles except watch and see of your Magikarp jumps higher.

And yet.. I actually do like this game. It’s fun to see what kind of Magikarp you will fish up and what they will do. There are a lot of decorations you can put in your pond, and other Pokémon will come to hang out with you sometimes. Supposedly your Magikarp can actually get eaten, but that hasn’t happened to me yet!

Since my initial playthrough, I have played a little bit more. I raised Floppy to the highest level it could go, so it competed in one last battle… and won!

Floppy retired happily.

In the meantime, Pikachu came to visit…

I reached Trainer Rank 3…

And I fished up a new Magikarp, whom I named Flappy 😉

Flappy is currently at Level 5, and Floppy is chilling in the background watching her grow!

Even though this game is more passive than anything, it’s still amusing to see what will happen next!